The Oligopeptide Synthesis Facility is a shared resource that provides rapid and efficient peptide synthesis, protein sequencing and amino acid analysis services to Cancer Center members and other faculty in the Division of the Biological Sciences. The synthetic peptides can be used to investigate the functional domain of known proteins; to study the interaction of proteins with receptors, membranes or DNA; to separate gene products based on heterogeneity of small domains of the proteins and for the production of domain-specific antibodies. Sequence information for particular proteins is necessary for preparing oligonucleotide probes for the purpose of cloning cDNA; in study of posttranslational processing of both native and recombinant proteins and in many active site and chemical modification studies designed to define the structure-function properties of enzymes and other proteins. The programs and projects supported by this Facility represent a diverse, multi-disciplinary approach to obtaining an improved understanding of cancer biology, genetics, immunology, chromosomal abnormalities and therapeutic modalities. Because the use of oligopeptides and the need for protein sequencing by the faculty remains high, both services will greatly enhance the productivity and efficiency of the Cancer Center.